Weekend Round-Up

Some of the Week's Best

Remember the 'gifted fruit' from last week? 

Well it got a makeover and became a Brandied Citrus Compote.

Cook's notes: This make a delicious side for a lunch or brunch and can be made ahead. I added in dried cranberries for a pop of color to the grapefruit and orange sections. Another alternative would be substituting pomegranate seeds (pom poms) or diced maraschino cherries.  The recipe is original and serves 4. Double the sauce ingredients if increasing the quantity of fruit.  

 Ingredients:

• 4 Blood Oranges or Navel oranges, peeled and segmented
• 3 Ruby Red grapefruit, peeled and segmented
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3/4 tsp. Saigon cinnamon or 1 tsp. cinnamon  
• 1/4 tsp.apple pie spice 
• 2 TB. brandy

Directions:

• Section fruit and place in a shallow dish.
• Place remaining ingredients in a saucepan and whisk to combine. If using pom poms add when serving the compote but if using dried cranberries can be placed in saucepan and heated with the sauce.
• Heat sauce on low almost to boiling point. 
• Pour sauce over fruit and cover with plastic wrap. Marinate fruit for a least 3 hours or overnight. Stir gently once or twice during the marinating time. 

• Drain juice and serve.   

By the time I had finished with my current issue of Food Network Magazine there was only half of it left as I had ripped out so many recipes.This particular issue had many ingenious ideas with a simple concept; maximizing the muffin pan. In fact the issue included a tear out booklet with 50 things to make in a muffin pan. 

Here are a few that caught my attention

Taco Salad Cup   

I had filling left over from previous recipe Southwestern Chicken Taco Wraps.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Soften flour or corn tortillas wrapped in foil for 3 minutes in oven. 

Coat 6 jumbo muffin cups with cooking spray. Press one 6-inch flour tortillas into each to form a cup. Coat lightly with cooking spray. 

Bake at 425 degrees until golden about 8 minutes. Let cups cool. Remove and fill with warmed taco mixture, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. a dollop of  salsa that has beans in corn in it and topped with shredded cheese . 

Ham and Egg Cups

Follow the same steps above to make tortilla cups. Fill with a scrambled egg mixture of diced ham,onions, peppers, white cheddar cheese and 1/2 tsp, Mexican or Adobo seasoning and 1 tsp. parsley flakes.

Some other 48 creative ideas include: hash brown cups, crab cakes, mac and cheese, cherry clafoutis and Blueberry Dutch Babies. 

Now I am ready to dive into newest BHG issue Skillet Dinners Simple and Fresh. 

Stay tuned...

Thought for the Week